One point I would add to this list is the situation of standing around/breaking up fights.
In a way, this is covered by EL Macho's first point about the shitty clubs, but it might not be common sense for absolutely everyone, especially if they're buzzed.

Friends of mine who have gotten suckerpunched (suckerstabbed, actually, in one case) did so while standing close to fights that hadn't involved them.
Its not always just stupid curiosity- sometimes if a crowd's thick you can't move away fast. One of the combatants' boys think you look like you're going to get involved and decides to pre-empt you (this was the suckerstabbed case, where my friend in fact knew neither of the guys)

Breaking up fights that involve a friend is obviously a little harder to avoid, but still falls under no. 1 above.
I guess the best advice is to realize that if you're trying to be a good citizen, rather then piling on the other guy, no one is going to know the difference, and if even if they do -you're in the shitty club- they might not care.

One of my friends who was involved in this scenario (trying to break up a fight) actually got more f'ed up then the one who got stabbed.
His jaw was broken by the sucker punch and being KTFO he took a dive onto the pavement and broke his face. To add insult to injury they treated him like **** in the emergency room because he had been "involved in a drunken brawl". If you're breaking up the fight, you're in the fight, no matter how good or seemingly clear your intentions are.

It might be obvious, but I'm emphasizing it because ^one of these scenarios was where everyone I know who has gotten sucker punched, was sucker punched.

I heard on some documentary that in prisons people learn fast to stay far away from fights that don't involve them, but I'll leave this to the Dirty Prison Fighting Strategies of the Deadly 52 Hand Blocks practitioners. :icon_salu

Actually, I was talking more about the idea that someone that trains mostly to punch will somehow choose to/know when to switch to open hands during a street fight. That just doesn't happen, according to the experts. The occasional fighter may pull it off, but if you read the current literature, it's statistically against the odds. You will fight like you train.

Cops that repeatedly collect brass in their hands rather than let them fall to the floor during range time DIE with brass in their hands. When they train to double tap and then reholster on the range, they double tap and reholster in real life.

Please know that you fight how you train. It's just the way things are. I'm not saying that you're not going to go all out when the adrenal dump kicks in, but you will end up doing what you train to do, whether you like it or not.

I heard an anecdote about FBI guys practicing gun disarms. THey were training to disarm the weapon, and throw it into a bucket behind them. Well, a few agents went into the field, ended up having to disarm a guy, and ended up throwing the weapon behind them. haha, oops.

I heard an anecdote about FBI guys practicing gun disarms. THey were training to disarm the weapon, and throw it into a bucket behind them. Well, a few agents went into the field, ended up having to disarm a guy, and ended up throwing the weapon behind them. haha, oops.

I believe it. Too many anecdotes not to listen to them all. I don't need a double blind control to see what the Rock's been cookin'.